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PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY MICHIGAN
BY FLORENCE MCKINNON GWINN
HURON COUNTY PIONEER AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY 1922
MRS. FLORENCE MCKINNON GWINN Secretary of the Huron County Pioneer and Historical Society, and Author of this Pioneer History of the County
PIONEER HISTORY OF
HURON COUNTY
MICHIGAN
BY FLORENCE MCKINNON GWINN
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HURON COUNTY PIONEER AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY
1922
LAKE
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SAGINAW
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HURON H
CONTENTS
Page
PHYSICAL FEATURES
1
ORIGIN OF NAME "HURON"
4
FIRST WHITE MAN ON THE SHORE
7
THE EARLIEST SETTLERS
9
BEGINNING OF HURON CITY
10
SAND BEACH TOWNSHIP
11
THE FIRST COUNTY SEAT
12
PORT AUSTIN TOWNSHIP
19
DESCRIPTION OF STONE QUARRIES
- 27
RUBICON TOWNSHIP
- 32
BINGHAM TOWNSHIP
- 33
VILLAGE OF UBLY
33
PARIS TOWNSHIP
35
DWIGHT TOWNSHIP
36
SHERMAN TOWNSHIP
37
HUME TOWNSHIP
39
A VANISHED VILLAGE
41
CASEVILLE TOWNSHIP
45
EARLY LUMBER OPERATIONS
- 46
FIRST SALT WELL OPENED
46
THE MCKINLEY IRON WORKS
A COMMUNITY EXPERIMENT 51
SEBEWAING TOWNSHIP
53
FAIR HAVEN TOWNSHIP
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- 56
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25
CONTENTS (Continued)
Page
VERONA TOWNSHIP
60
COLFAX TOWNSHIP 4 64
LOCATING THE COUNTY SEAT
66
BAD AXE WIPED OUT BY FIRE
73
GORE TOWNSHIP
75
SIGEL TOWNSHIP
75
SHERIDAN TOWNSHIP
76
LAKE TOWNSHIP
78
CHANDLER TOWNSHIP
80
OLIVER TOWNSHIP
82
GRANT TOWNSHIP
84
BROOKFIELD TOWNSHIP
85
MEADE TOWNSHIP
86
LINCOLN TOWNSHIP
87
WINSOR TOWNSHIP
88
MCKINLEY TOWNSHIP
91
PIONEER FAMILY OF NOTE
T6
AN EARLY MILLIONAIRE
93
LUMBER AND SHINGLES
94
A BIT OF CHURCH HISTORY
96
COMING OF THE RAILROADS
98
FIRST COUNTY OFFICERS
98
MARVELOUS CHANGES
- 100
83
BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP
4
PREFACE
The Huron County Pioneer and Historical Society authorized its secretary, Mrs. Richard Gwinn, to secure facts and publish a history of the early settlements of Huron County, its resources and prospects, so that the coming generations may know something of the strug- gles and privations of the early settlers.
In sending forth this description of Huron County, its history, topography and possibilities, we have availed ourselves of the most reliable sources of information within our reach.
Most of the historic material has been secured from original documents, manuscripts, papers, journals, talks by men who are now deceased and reports from the Michigan Historical collections.
The writer wishes to thank W. H. Wallace, S. Wal- lace and Chas. Crawford for the loan of early papers published in the county. These contained valuable data and information. To those desiring information this little volume will contain much that is instructive as well as entertaining and valuable.
FLORENCE McKINNON GWINN.
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CHAPTER I Early Beginnings in Huron County
SETTLEMENTS AND SETTLERS
B EFORE we begin the study of the facts connected with the early history of Huron County, let us glance briefly at some of the physical features of Michigan, which are so intimately related to the son formation of this section. For ages what is now Michigan was almost entirely covered by a great inland sea.
In the Lower Peninsula by drilling into the underly- ing rock for hundreds of feet there has been found layer after layer of soft rock formed by the detritus brought into the old inland sea by its rivers. Part of the time this sea had no outlet and was salty. This ac- counts for the layers of salt which are found in so many places in the Saginaw Valley. Much later this sea dis- appeared and the present Great Lakes were only river valleys.
Then still later came the great glacier periods which cover a great space of time. As these glaciers moved forward with slow but irresistable force they gouged out boulders from the rock, grinding them into smaller pieces, forming gravel, sand and clay. When the last great glacier had receded far enough to allow the water to pass out to the ocean the temporary lakes disappeared but left the present Great Lakes of which Saginaw Bay is a part. This bay has a coast line of several hundred miles in length and its shores lie 580 feet above the ocean's level. (I) The land bordering its
(I) History of Bay County.
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PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY
waters is generally low and sandy. In many places swamps surrounded by sand ridges are to be found. In the southern and central parts of the county the land is hilly and rolling. With few exceptions the soil is formed largely of lake drift and is very fertile.
The early explorers followed the shores of the bay and the sand ridges found there naturally gave the im- pression that all of the land was of this type and there- fore worthless. Even as eminent an authority as Gover- nor Cass states in a letter that "the country in the angle between Fort Gratiot, (now Port Huron) and Saginaw Bay can never be of any importance." He was referr- ing to the "Thumb" which now has some of the finest farming land in the state. (2) The Morse Geographies then used in the schools made similar statements, de- claring the interior of Michigan an impenetrable swamp. What land there was between the swamps was barren sand and that it was not worth the expense of surveying. Such declarations naturally impeded the settlement of this section for many years.
THE FIRST PEOPLE WERE TRAPPERS
The first people who came into the country other than the Indians were trappers and shingle weavers. Then later came the lumbermen who founded small set- tlements to carry on their various enterprises. Still later men of energy and courage with their families sought a home in this region that was without roads and with but few acres of tillable land and with impassable swamps and streams in many places. They laid broad and solid the foundations of a progressive civilization while they lived in log shanties, cabins and houses the latch-strings of which were always out. They were ever ready to assist other settlers in getting a start and in cases of sickness their services were freely given. The adventures and hardships of these pioneer settlers
(2) Michigan Historical Collection.
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PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY
were many and varied. Some one has truly said, "That the pioneer was a child of progress. He looked up and not down; forward and not back. Behind him was the past; before him the future. His visions were of to- morrow. He foresaw hard work and hard times, blue days and weary nights, but he saw too in the dim future the town, the city, the county, the state, the schools for his children, the churches and fertile fields yielding their treasures of grain. And of these things he was to be a part and parcel."
Before the white man took possession of this sec- tion great stands of white pine covered the larger portion of what is now Huron County. There are about 80 varieties of trees native to Michigan and a large ma- jority of these were to be found in this region. There were the white and Norway pine, spruce, cedar, hard and soft maple, smooth and shag bark hickory, tam- arac, birch, hemlock, basswood, white and black ash, elm, oak, beech and numerous other kinds of the cone- bearing evergreen trees as well as the various varieties of deciduous trees that shed their leaves in the fall.
Besides these forests there were in many places great stretches of marshes and swamps with a dense growth of cedar and tamarac. As a rule the oak and hard wood were to be found upon the heavy clay soil; on the sandy soil the pine, hemlock and also groves of oaks. Beautiful shrubs, many of which have almost disappeared, covered the open spaces in the woods.
Along the shores of the Bay and rivers many kinds of wild fruit were found growing, such as plums, grapes, wild crab apples, red and black raspberries, strawber- ries and on the sand plains an abundance of huckleber- ries. To add to the beauty of the scene in many places were the wild flowers each in their season. The violets, trilliums, honeysuckles, lady slippers, the wild rose and the sweet scented trailing arbutus. Deep forests, open woods, prairies, swamps, the rivers and bay afforded
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PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY
havens for the great variety of animal life found in this portion of Michigan. The waters of the bay teemed with fish and in the woods roamed the moose, deer, elk, bear, wolf, wild cat, lynx, and along the rivers were found the beaver, otter, muskrat and mink. Wild ber- ries, seeds, insects furnished daily food for the bird life. On a spring morning the woods resounded with the music of these feathered songsters. Great flocks of wild pigeons used to almost darken the sky as they passed in their onward flight. Now that particular kind of pigeon is extinct. In 1868 men in the town of Sebewaing caught 16 barrels of these pigeons and sent them to the New York markets. The early settlers used to knock them down with long poles when their ammunition gave out. It was also a common sight to see flocks of wild turkeys in the woods, especially in the fall of the year. As late as 1875 the Anderson brothers in Caseville town- ship, captured 10 or 11 turkeys just where the Grand Trunk Railway now crosses their land.
ORIGIN OF NAME "HURON"
We find that Huron County was set off in 1840 and organized in 1860. It is situated in latitude 43 degrees north on the west side of Lake Huron and east of Sagi- naw Bay, being surrounded, as will be seen by reference to the map, by water on three sides, which has a medial effect upon its climate both as to heat and cold. It con- tains about 553,000 acres of land, mostly rolling with no abrupt hills.
The name Huron was derived from the word "hures" as used in the phrase "Inelles hures" (what heads) as applied by an astonished French traveler to the Wyandotte or Huron Indians on beholding their fan- tastic mode of dressing the hair. These Indians were dispersed by the Iroquois in 1649. (4).
(4) Michigan Historical Collections.
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PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY
We find an interesting series of maps published in the Michigan Historical Magazine of July, 1918 which show the various names given to the territory now in- cluded in Huron County. The map of 1822 shows nearly one-third of the Lower Peninsula including the "Thumb" district, in Oakland County, which was set off in 1819 by a proclamation of Governor Cass with the addition of the lands acquired under the Indian treaty of Saginaw that same year. In 1828 St. Clair occupied the part that is now Huron County and also extended a considerable distance south of the present boundary line. In 1836 the "Thumb" is named Lapeer, and again in 1840 it is once more on the map as St. Clair, with only four coun- ties bordering Lakes Huron and St. Clair. The other three counties were Macomb, Wayne and Monroe. In the maps of 1852-56 the territory is named Sanilac. Finally the map is given in 1860 of Huron County as it is today.
The principal rivers are the Cass, Pigeon, Pinne- bog and Du Fill, or Sebewaing, as it is now called. Wil- low Creek also flows through a large portion of the eastern part of the county.
The soil being drift, composed of a mixture of clay, sand and gravel, is exceedingly well adapted to the growth of plants and fruit as well as the various grains. It is easily tilled, holds the moisture well and yet is sufficiently porous to allow proper drainage.
The land over which the Indian once roamed has now become the cultivated fields or is occupied by busi- ness houses, dwellings, churches and schools. To learn the story of those days of yore one has to delve into musty records and manuscripts of bygone years, for the actual pioneers, the first settlers of the county are rap- idly passing away and with them we lose much of the history of the past and which it is important to preserve.
The homes of the settlers were built amid the stately old forest trees. Small spaces were cleared for
.
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PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY
crops and the stroke of the axe and the crash of the falling timber echoed through the forest aisles. Progress was slow but steady. Every blow counted for improv- ment and stimulated hope and courage. The staff of life was generally coarsely ground Indian meal and lucky the family which had enough of it. Had it not been for the abundance of game many would have gone hungry. Men came into this county in many cases with nothing to aid them but courageous hearts and strong and will- ing hands. A hearty hospitality prevailed and the advent of a new family to settle in their midst was an occasion of rejoicing. Willing hands helped the newcomer build his cabin home and it was a common thing to exchange work in chopping and logging bees. The privations and sacrifices which necessarily come of such undertakings were bravely met and endured. Among the obstacles to be contended with was the journeys to and from civiliza- tion. The routes lay through a wild and rough country. Swamps and marshes were crossed with difficulty. Long and weary days of travel were endured to obtain even the scantiest fare. It was impossible for the first settlers to support their families by agriculture for the first few years and in this emergency the lumber camps and saw mills assisted in providing a livlihood for these people. Such was life in Huron County in the 50's and 60's.
We look back to the old times as hard times; and so they were. Full hearts and empty purses, hard work and plenty of it, shivering ague and wasting fever were the common lot of our early settlers, yet they had their share of good times too. The different schools of medi- cine let the pioneer kindly alone, said Governor Bagley at the first historical meeting in Michigan. The boneset and wormwood, pennyroyal and catnip that hung in every cabin were the drugs. The fashion plates did not reach the woods in that day and Jane's bonnet and Char- ley's coat were worn regardless of style. Questions that worry today never troubled the pioneer. Long before the advent of the white man we are told the Indians
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PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY
would congregate in large parties along the shores of the lake and bay in the spring time to make maple sugar, which was taken later on and sold in Detroit.
THE FIRST WHITE MAN ON THE SHORE ·
The first white man we have any record of travel- ing around the shores of Saginaw and Wild Fowl Bays is Edward Petit, whose history is given by Mrs. B. C. Farrand in her sketch of St. Clair County in 1872. She states that Edward Petit was the first white child born in what is now Port Huron on February 7, 1813, in a log house built by his father near the foot of Court street. The chief amusements of Edward's boyhood days were those of the Indian, hunting and fishing. The Indians were very numerous and from them he learned the language. He was well fitted for his trade among them in later years. He began this work when only 15 years of age near the Sauble.
Mr. Petit had a post on the bend of the Cass river when in the employ of G. and W. Williams. On one occasion special interest had been awakened by the failure of all the traders to find an encampment of five or six families of Indians who had been gone all winter and must necessarily have great quantities of furs. Party after party went out and returned without finding them. The head of the camp was Tawas, a cunning old fellow. Young Petit resolved to secure this prize if perseverance would accomplish it, and started out with provisions on his back for a week, together with articles for barter. He took with him as guide an Indian with one arm. The two started off and passed over to where Shebeyonk was situated. Here the Williams company had established an out post for furs in 1829, under the management of
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PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY
Indian women. (4) Leaving this post they followed along the shores of bay and lake until they reached the present site of White Rock. Here they camped after building a bark lodge. Before morning a drenching rain set in and they had only one loaf of bread left. This, however, did not prevent them from renewing their search which was rewarded after a tramp of five miles. (5) ..
Tawas and his families were preparing to make maple sugar when they found them. These Indians had kettles of brass of all sizes which had been given them by the British Government. Undoubtedly it was one of these kettles that Robert Morse, of Bad Axe, found some years ago under an overturned root of a large tree on his father's farm in Mckinley township. In the 50's, Wil- liam Handy, digging out the basement of a house for William Rattle in Caseville, also found one of these ket- tles which his wife used for many years.
These Indians had selected this location where Mr. Petit found them for its fishing facilities. They were in almost a starving condition, having no food other than some moose tallow. Petit divided his loaf with them and purchased 500 martin skins for $1 each, which readily sold at $2. He could only take the best furs leaving the coarse ones for some other trader. On re- turning to the post on the bend of the Cass, Mr. Petit's employers quadrupled his wages. This incident oc- curred in 1831.
(4) The Fur Trader, page 139.
(5) Michigan Historical Collections.
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PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY
CHAPTER II Huron County's Earliest Settlers
Of the men who came into the county later we shall speak as we give the history of the various townships of the county. Huron being one of the earliest organized and embraced nearly all of the territory of Huron Coun- ty. Many years before any permanent settlement was formed the present site of the village of Huron City was occupied by fishermen. In 1837 Theodore Luce erected . a saw mill on Willow Creek, the Indian name of which is Wet-to-bee-wok. Later Mr. Brakeman, of Port Huron bought the mill and after operating a year or two sold it to Dowling & Forbes, also of Port Huron, and they in 1856 sold to R. B. Hubbard & Co. This firm continued operations here until the fire of 1871 destroyed their mills, docks, store and the entire village. The loss to the company was a very heavy one. Their large ware- house on shore and another one on the dock filled with grain and lumbering supplies, the entire stock of clear lumber for the year, a large quantity of shingles, tan bark and cedar posts were entirely destroyed. Imme- diately after the fire the firm rebuilt and continued their business until 1878, when R. B. and Watson retired from the company leaving Langdon Hubbard the sole owner of this immense business. The forest fires of '71 found the township an almost unbroken forest of very heavy timber, principally pine, hemlock, beech and maple with scattering cedar, black ash, elm and bass wood. In that fire most of the timber was killed and in the course of a few years fell in such dense masses that it was almost impossible for man or beast to pass through it. In fact fences were unnecessary except
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PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY
along the roads. When the fires of 1881 came along this timber was in prime condition for the great fire which in its march swept everything before it. Langdon Hub- bard alone lost $250,000 in this conflagration. But Mr. Hubbard, with his accustomed energy set to work, im- mediately rebuilt his store and also a flouring mill, saw mill, shingle mill, blacksmith shop and several other business enterprises of the village besides giving his attention to farming.
THE BEGINNING OF HURON CITY
Prof. William Lyon Phelps gave a splendid history of this well known pioneer in the memorial services held in his honor at Huron City a few years ago. He said: "The history of this town is simply a history of his life for 40 years. He built a road straight through the forest for 16 miles to Verona. His lumber business grew to gigantic proportions. Hundreds of men were in his employ. They cut timber in the winter, floated the logs down Willow Creek, sawed them into lumber, placed it on Mr. Hubbard's cars and took it to the end of the pier where it was loaded on his boat, the 'Huron City' and sent it to Detroit, Cleveland and Sandusky." Mr. Hub- bard first bought land in the county in 1853. Among the men who came to Huron City in the '50's was Dr. Dick- inson, who worked as a lumberman for two years for Mr. Brakeman. When the Civil War broke out in '61 he enlisted. At the close of that struggle he entered a medical college in Cincinnati from which he graduated and again became an inhabitant of Huron County.
The name of Andrew Shaw is a familiar one to all pioneers. He came in 1850 and in 1858 bought 109 acres of government land. Was appointed keeper of the light house by President Lincoln and at his death was the oldest settler in Huron township. The first life saving station was at Huron City in 1876. Five of the captains who had charge there are well known through-
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PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY
out the county: Kiah, Morgan, Ferris and Oliver. Captain Kiah's story of the attempted rescue in April 1880, of the scow Sally McGruder, when the entire crew of the life savers lost their lives but him, is as thrilling as any sea story ever published.
About three miles east of Grindstone City was the now vanished hamlet of New River. Here on May 12, 1845 J. Spikeman and Walter Hume bought some land. Other men who came there in the 50's were J. R. Cham- bers 1851, John Ginn 1853, Francis Palms, 1854, S. Sharpstein 1855, Thomas Donahue 1856, and Alexander Miller in 1858. Here Cooper, Creevy & Co. used to operate an extensive salt block, their headquarters be- ing at Port Austin. The first deed recorded in the coun- ty of which we have any trace is a conveyance from Lorenz M. Mason to the County of Huron. It is for a consideration of $175 and describes what is now known as the New River Cemetery, consisting of four acres and described as being the burying ground now in use in the said township of Huron. I think the record was made by Charles B. Cottrell. Where the village stood is now the farm of Frank Kinch, one of the most enter- prising and modern farmers of the Thumb. As late as 1883 this town had a long dock where steamers regular- ly stopped for freight and passengers. Had a store, church and school house. When the salt industry de- clined the town began to go down. Finally every vestige of what had been a flourishing town disappeared. The soil in this township is a clay loam with a mixture of sand and is very fertile.
SAND BEACH TOWNSHIP
An interesting page in the countys history is the story of the early settlement of Sand Beach township. Steps were taken to organize this township as early as 1853. The first town meeting was held near Port Hope in a private house and Hiram Whitcomb elected super-
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PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY
visor in the spring of 1853, but he objected to assuming control over such a large territory, so the town was not really organized until 1855 'when John Hopson was elected supervisor. He was instrumental in getting the first state road. The name given to the bay and beach in those early days was on account of the fine, wide, clean beach so free from rock ledge at this point. The shore below for some distance is rocky. Upon the organization of the township G. W. Pack, of the firm of Carrington, Pack & Co., who did business here, sug- gested that the same name be given to it. The name gave the impression that the general character of the soil was sandy and therefore valueless, so in later years the village was renamed Harbor Beach.
FIRST COUNTY SEAT AT SAND BEACH
Upon the organization of the county in 1859 Sand Beach was made the county seat. It remained so until 1864 when the court house burned with nearly all the records. One term of court was held in the Dow House, after the fire, and then the capital was moved to Port Austin. The first settler was John Allen in the spring of 1837 and with him came Alanson Daggett. The fisher- men, however, had visited this point at an early day to · catch the white fish and trout with which the clear waters of the lake abound. Mr. Allen and Mr. Daggett put up a saw mill at Rock Falls and in the fall of that same year Bela Hubbard, of Detroit, tells of a trip he made here in connection with the Michigan Geological Expedition from Detroit to Port Huron. Dr. Houghton, State Geologist, and C. C. Douglass with a guide, Pierre Guret, of French and Indian blood and a dog being the rest of the party. Mr. Hubbard states that they were to examine and report upon the salt springs of the lower peninsula. Prior to the settlement of Michigan by white men the Indians supplied themselves with salt from the saline springs of the Saginaw Valley and the Huron Peninsula. The state being desirous of knowing more
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PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY
about these springs sent out this party into the wilder- ness far from the habitation of white men. They had completed the river explorations after many difficulties and reached the point where Saginaw now is in October 1837. Mr. Hubbard says: "We then prepared for an expedition which was attended with some danger at that late season of the year, a lake journey of 150 miles from Saginaw to Port Huron. We procured a canoe from the Chippewa reservation. It was a dugout of wood 30 feet long, but so narrow, that seated in a line of the center we could use a paddle on either side." Bay City was then an infant of one year and boasted a frame building used as a chapel and two or more log huts." He also mentions finding apple trees along the Tittabawassee river. An old manuscript mentions the planting of these when Father Marquette and his Jesuit brethren paddled around our beautiful peninsula 200 years before, dropping here and there a few apple and pear seeds from which the earliest settlers were to gather fruit. Some of these trees were found in Case- ville township in 1841. No doubt these warriors of the Cross camped there over night. When the party reached the islands near the Au Gres river they caught a large sturgeon with their hands and threw it on the shore. It stocked their larder for many days with its variety of meat.
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